Criminal Law DV Lottery/Green Card interview-misdemeanor

[madzar]

I am preparing for my green card interview. I do not have a criminal record but the embassy is asking for a copy of the police database. There is only one entry in the police database: smuggling misdemeanor, the amount that I had to pay as a fine, cleared on the same day when the court order was issued. (I asked a local lawyer who told me that this means that I dont have a criminal record.), it can be deleted on the same day 5 years later when the court order was issued.

The case: I did not declare a camera that was worth cca. $500 but I carried in a camera bag and did not try to hide it and I never plead guilty. It happened more than 6 years ago in my home country. I had to pay a fine but I got back the camera. All this information is in the court order.

There is a question on the visa request form: "Have you ever been charged, arrested or convicted of any offense or crime?"

Am I supposed to mention this?

 

[mafioso]

If the record was expunged per your country's law, the expunction is not necessarily recognized by US law. What you should do is to order a copy of your record from the police data base and see if it still shows up. If it does, then you must admit to it even if it is in the process of being expunged. It is hard to tell what you should do……..I don't know much about international law in such issues. But if your crime or offense had a maximum possible jail time of one year or less, it would not affect your GC application per immigration law.